COFFEE WITH HONEY - A Ranger's Apprentice Coffeeshop AU
by RedRose-Arrow
Summary: Ranger's Apprentice in modern day life and it all originates from a coffeeshop. Sounds legit.
1. MON 3 SEP 2018, 7:50AM

**Monday morning, 7:50AM**

Alyss nervously looked at the digits on her phone. 07:50. She had ten more minutes to get to Pauline's office or she would be in trouble. She sighed and checked her phone again. 07:51 and the line hadn't shortened. Her damned neighbours. They had had a party until early in the morning and the music had been so ear-deafening Alyss couldn't sleep. As a result, she slept right through her alarm this morning.

07:52. Alyss yawned. She had skipped breakfast, but if she would skip her coffee as well she would probably fall asleep at her desk, she feared.

"Psst! Hey, Alyss!" She looked around and saw Jenny standing at the side of the counter.

"Here." The chubby blonde slid a to-go coffee and a muffin towards her. Alyss took them and smiled thankfully at her old friend. "Thank you so so much, you're a sweetheart Jen!"

But Jenny waved a bit and smiled in return. "You can thank me later, go be on time!"

As the barista turned back to helping customers, Alyss turned around and wriggled herself through the other customers standing in line. As she checked her phone once again to see how much time she still had, she didn't notice the young man and walked right up to him. One of the coffee cups that he had been holding was spilled over his white shirt.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Alyss exclaimed. She grasped some napkins from a nearby table and tried to clean up the mess as well as she could. The man grinned at her.  
"Don't worry about it. I like the smell of coffee, it's nice that I can carry it with me all day."

She looked at him. He was at least half a head shorter than she was, she noticed. But he was muscly and athletic and not in the slightest intimidated by people taller than him. In fact, he carried himself quite confidently, she noticed.

"Are you sure? I'd feel bad all day!"

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I've got tons of fresh clothes laying at work."

"Let me at least buy you another coffee!" But again, he shook his head and raised his left hand with the remaining coffee cup. "I'm all set! Look, don't worry about it. I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, look like you desperately need to get somewhere…"

Alyss looked at her phone. 7:56.

"You're right, I really have to go. Again, I'm so sorry. Nice meeting you though!" And in a hurry she left.


	2. TUE 4 SEP 2018, 8:45AM

**Tuesday morning, 8:45AM**

The air was thick with the scent of coffee when Alyss entered the coffeeshop. Pauline, her boss and mentor, had allowed her to catch up on some sleep, but she still didn't like to be extremely late. The line at this point of the day wasn't so long, and it took only a few minutes before it was her turn to order.

"Hi Jenny, can I please get a regular creme frappuccino plus three -

"- pumps of caramel syrup, three pumps of toffee nut syrup, and a caramel drizzel on top. After two years, I know your order, Alyss." Jenny smiled as she reached under the counter and revealed a steaming to-go cup of coffee. "Someone else did too, apparently."

"What do you mean?" Alyss was confused, especially when Jenny didn't accept the payment she tried to offer her.

"Remember that handsome young man you met yesterday?"

"You mean, the man that I bumped into, then spilled coffee over his snowwhite shirt?" Alyss groaned and put her hands in front of her face. "How could I forget?"

"Well, his name's Will and -" Alyss instantly lowered her hands. "Wait, Jenny, you know him?"  
"Sure do, he's been getting coffee here thrice a day for the past, four years? Anyways, he was here this morning and asked if you'd gotten your coffee already, so I said that I hadn't seen you yet, and he then proceeded to order it for you."

"He did? Wow. You'd think that I was the one who got her coffee spilled on her shirt." It was the sweetest thing that a stranger had ever done for her, she thought. Jenny interrupted her thinking.

"Alyss? Be here at 7:30 tomorrow, will you?"

Alyss shook her head but smiled at her friend.  
"Sure, Jenny, whatever you want."


	3. WED 5 SEP 2018, 7:34AM

**Wednesday morning, 7:34AM**

Alyss stepped out of the line, having received her coffee. She looked around, expecting for the young man - Will, was his name - to pop-up somewhere. It was crowded in the coffeeshop, with people from all ages. Some were students, others were on their way to work. Some sat at a table with a laptop or a report and others ran out of the shop as soon as they had been handed their order. She smiled to herself. Everyone in this coffeeshop was dying to get their coffee, their "good morning".

All of a sudden and out of nowhere, Will popped up in front of her, again holding a full cup of coffee in both hands, and he grinned widely. Jenny was right, he was quite handsome.

"Coffee girl!" She stared at him in disbelief. And at his neat black pants with an oversized white shirt. And at his friendly face.

"Coffee girl? Seriously?" He shrugged. His messy brown hair aligned with his dark brown eyes that twinkled playfully. Will gestured at an empty table. "You wanna sit down for a sec?" Alyss nodded. "Yeah, why not? I've got enough time today."

They sat down at the table and Alyss placed her bag on her lap. She was wearing a tight black pencil skirt with a white blouse and suddenly realised how in sync their clothes were. Seeing as Will put down his two coffees, she remembered something.

"Yesterday, how did you know how I take my coffee?" Will grinned apologetically.

"Your phonecase, it's Harry Potter, isn't it? Turns out, typing Harry Potter plus coffee in google only gives so many possibilities."

"Still though, a Harry Potter phonecase doesn't mean I actually drink my coffee the way I do. So how did you know?" Will blushed - it was cute. Suddenly, it dawned on Alyss.

"You asked Jenny, didn't you?" When he didn't reply, she pointed at him, her tone playfully offended.

"I knew it! You two lied to me, you really had me thinking you were some sort of fascinating psychic but you cheated!"

Will grinned apologetically at her. "Can I still be fascinating without being a psychic?"

"I guess you can. Which brings me to my next question: why did you order coffee for me? I spilled coffee on you, not the other way around."  
"You were obviously in a hurry on Monday, so I figured, if you're in a hurry again, it might be nice if your coffee is all ready to go when you get here. Saves time." Alyss was quite speechless and it took her a moment to gather the right words. "Well, you didn't have to do that. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry Jenny lied to you. Are you guys friends?"

"Yeah, we are. We grew up in the same orphanage together."

"Must've been fun." Will's face reddened a bit as he realised what he had just said. "Growing up with Jenny, I mean, not, growing up in an orphanage."

Alyss looked at him and shook her head slightly as she smiled. "I got that." She checked her phone and saw that she had about ten minutes to get to the office.

"Anyways, I really have to go. Don't want to be late."  
Will stood up as well. "No problem, I should get going as well. Enjoy your weird coffee drink, coffee girl!"


	4. THU 6 SEP 2018, 7:32AM

**Thursday morning, 7:32AM**

"Good morning coffee girl!" Alyss grinned to the back of the person standing in front of her, turned around and replied: "Good morning, honeyboy."

Will placed a hand on his heart and took a deep breath. "Ouch, that hurt my masculinity."

"Oh, save it," Alyss laughed, but Will eyed her curiously.

"Why honeyboy? Why not double coffeeman?" She shook her head but couldn't stop a smile from spreading over her face.

"One, because you're shorter than I am, and two, because you have Jenny drop ridiculous amounts of honey in your coffee." In fact, Alyss had been laying awake for a few short hours trying to come up with the perfect nickname. She couldn't possibly call him Will, he'd never told her his name and she didn't want him to think that she'd looked him up. Not that she hadn't done that, but she hadn't been able to find out anything about him with the spare knowledge that Jenny had given her. Meanwhile, Will had moved on from her nickname for him to her supposedly hurtful comment on the way he drank his coffee.

"Says the girl with more syrup in her cup than coffee."

"True, but I do so in order to make my coffee taste more like butterbeer than coffee," she replied easily. "Why one does honey in their coffee, however, I cannot imagine. It still tastes like coffee, only sweet instead of bitter."

Will threw his hands into the air. "I can see that I will not win this argument. You must be a student of Pauline's, head of England's Diplomatic Services."

"I am. How did you know?" Before he could answer, she added playfully dangerously: "Did you ask Jenny again?" Will laughed.  
"No, I was there this early morning when I had to pick up something and saw a picture of you on the wall with Diplomatic Agents."

Alyss raised an elegant eyebrow. "If you were there, but you're not a part of the Diplomatic Services, then you must be…?"  
"Intelligence force. Halt's my mentor."

"I've heard about him. Is he so bad you need two coffees in the morning?"

Will shook his head and grinned his - beautiful - grin. "He's not so bad, if he starts the day well." He raised one cup.

Alyss nodded. "Ah. That explains the second coffee."

Right at that moment, Jenny slid two cups to the couple talking, a meaningful smile on her face that neither of the couple seemed to notice. One cup to Alyss, and another to Will. The latter smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, coffeegirl, but I have a meeting. No matter how much coffee I will bring, Halt won't approve of me being late. Nor will his supervisor, Crowley." He raised the third cup as he said those final words.

"Have a good day at the Diplomatic Services, coffee girl!" He teased.

"Drink your coffee and get yourself to the meeting, honeyboy!" She yelled in return.

As Will walked away, he noticed how one of the cups had a number written on it. Turning the cup, he read a name, followed by what must be a phone number.

Alyss. He liked that name.


	5. 9:13PM

**Thursday, 9:13PM**

Alyss was laying on her stomach on her bed, her long blond hair loosely tied on top of her head, her legs in the air. She had changed into shaggy but comfortable pyjama pants and was surrounded by books, papers, notes and reports. But where was her agenda? Taking her bag, she poured the inside all over her bed. Rolling out first, came a to-go coffee cup. She stared at it, having forgotten about its existence. Will's number stared her right in the face. She looked at the cup, then at her phone, and decided that she was allowed a break.

Alyss typed something and hit send.

 _Hi, it's Alyss._

She got a reply almost immediately.

 _Hi there, coffeegirl!_

 _Jenny gave me your number._

 _I thought so. She's a useful source._

 _That she is._

Alyss smiled down at her phone and typed something new.

 _What are you up to?_

 _Just finishing up some reports for Halt and Crowley._

 _Sounds fun._

 _It really is. Care to do it for me? ;-)_

 _Do your own work, honeyboy ;-)_

Enough of this smalltalk, Alyss firmly decided. She liked him. Not, liked liked him, but he was nice company, and she could use some nice company for after work hours. She didn't have many friends. Gathering all her courage, she wrote the message.

 _You wanna go get some coffee sometime?_

 _You mean every morning?_

She chuckled.

 _Yeah. Every morning._

 _Awesome._

Alyss hesitated, her fingers just above the screen. She typed something, deleted it. Her phone bleeped again.

 _See you tomorrow._

She sighed but had no choice to answer the same.

 _See you tomorrow._

Alyss threw her phone to the side and hit her head purposely on a book. Stupid.


	6. FRI 7 SEP 2018, 7:48AM

**Friday, 7:48AM**

He wasn't there.

Alyss checked her phone for the hundredth, she really couldn't wait much longer. Impatiently she opened her chat with Will and texted him.

 _Where are you?_

She looked up again and scanned the crowded shop, expecting him to show up suddenly and without warning, like he had done the past few days. Maybe he was just running late? She smiled, this would be the perfect moment to return his favour from Tuesday.

Even though she had already finished her butterbeer-like coffee, Alyss joined the line again. Luckily, there were multiple baristas working and she could get to her friend within the minute.

"Hi, Jenny, do you think you could prepare two black coffees with the ridiculous amount of honey Will likes and keep them on the ready for whenever he shows up?" But Jenny shook her head.

"I don't think that's very useful, Alyss." Her friend was confused. "Why not?"

Jenny shrugged. "He does that sometime. Simply doesn't show up for a few days and then he'll be back like nothing's happened. I have no idea where he goes, but he's always tired and sometimes bruised when he gets back. Probably has to do something with his work for the Intelligence Force, I suppose."

Meanwhile, the digits on her phone had changed to 7:53. For the second time that week, Alyss had to run.

 _You okay? Jenny said you might be doing something for the IF. Please let me know something, I missed smelling honey instead of coffee today :)_

 _Will? You there?_

 _How's whatever you're doing going? Any good?_

 _Will you be at Jenny's tomorrow? I can order your coffee ahead of you if you think you'll be running late._

 _Can't believe you've been going for more than one day without Jenny's coffee ;-)_

 _Where are you? Is everything going well?_

 _You okay?y_

 _Will?_


	7. SUN 24 SEP 2018, 7:30AM

**Sunday morning, 7:30, two weeks later**

Alyss walked down the alley to Jenny's coffeeshop. It was a nice morning, the sun was shining warmly above the city and last night's rain made her surroundings smell fresh and clean.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her arm. Moving around, she slowly raised her bag to be ready for an ordinary hit like old ladies used to do in movies. Alyss lowered her arm, however, when she saw who was holding her arm.

"Will?"

The hooded figure grinned, but when he spoke he sounded tired. "The one and only."

Despite knowing her assaulter, Alyss still pulled back her arm. Although she was relieved to see Will, she was also mad at him. "Where have you been? I have been texting you like crazy! I was worried something might have happened!" Will tried to calm her down, the exhaustion evident in every word he spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't reply, I had no time - God, I'm so happy to see you here, I wasn't sure if you'd come here this early on a Sunday but I just had to see you."

"Yeah, we don't really do weekends at the Diplomatic Service but that's irrelevant - what happened to your face?" Will had turned a bit and his face, though still partially covered by the shadows of his hood, revealed bruises and cuts. Her tone changed from slightly angry to worried.

"I can't tell you. Halt would kill me," Will answered apologetically. Before she could ask him another question, he quickly continued. "Just, can you do me a favour? Can you go in there and ask Jenny for one coffee for me? If she sees you instead of me she'll know what's up, I'll explain to you after." He could clearly see the confusion on Alyss' face, but she did what she was asked and returned a few minutes later with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

"Thanks." He took a sip. "I really needed that. I haven't slept for the past week."

"How-"

"I'm trained," he answered Alyss' unfinished question. He thought about it, then continued. She didn't deserve to be left in the dark. "With President Trump visiting there is a lot happening. For the past weeks, I have been investigating some rumours. Turns out, what I told Halt I thought was happening was indeed happening, so I needed to get more information and more details."

"And?"

"I got him exactly what he needs, but…" he hesitated, trying to find the right way of informing her without informing her too much.

"But not without getting in danger?" Alyss suggestively finished his sentence.

"Yeah, not without getting into real danger."

It was silent for a few minutes. Then, in synch, they both moved forward and their lips found each other. It was slow and soft, and he tasted like coffee. But it was sweet at the same time, like honey. His empty hand moved up to her ear and his thumb softly caressed her cheek as their breaths mingled. Alyss reached up her hands and tangled them around his strong neck. Their lips kept touching, demanding for more, but they found themselves departing. Grinning, Will stepped back.

"I gotta go. Report."

Alyss smiled down at him. "What about Halt's coffee?"  
He grinned widely. "I just got beat up to get him his information. He can get his own damn coffee."

Will pulled his hood over his head to cover his face. He waved at her. "See you tomorrow!"

She shook her head but couldn't stop a smile from spreading over her face.

"See you tomorrow."


	8. SUN 1 OCT 2018, 7:24AM

_**SUN 1 OCT 2018, 7:24AM**_

"WHAT? You KISSED?"

"Sshh, Jenny, keep your voice down." Alyss looked around the coffeeshop, anxious that someone might have heard. She moved closer to Jenny and said softly: "Yes, we kissed. Last week, right after I got him that coffee."

"What? Last week? Why didn't you tell me?"

Truth be told, the very first thing Alyss had wanted to do after kissing Will, was run into the coffeeshop and tell Jenny. But she hadn't, because she knew how much her friend liked to chitchat and how quickly news spread between the usual costumers of the shop. Will, being one of them, would undoubtedly hear of it and Alyss hadn't been quite sure she'd be able to look him into the eyes after. Thus, she had kept it to herself for a few days. (Also to make sure it wasn't a dream.)

"Because I didn't want everyone to know. You know how quickly rumours go around. Please forgive me."  
"Alright, I forgive you. So what's next?" Jenny asked, careful not to raise her voice again. Alyss shrugged.

"I don't know."

The blonde barista stopped stacking cups momentarily and looked at her, a disbelieving look on her face.

"How do you mean you don't know? You guys kissed, surely you're dating now."

"I wouldn't call getting coffee here every morning dating, Jen. And I truly don't know. I texted him, later that day, to ask if everything had been resolved and we talked for hours, neither of us mentioning the kiss. And it hasn't been weird, or anything, I mean, we honestly haven't known each other for that long. Barely a month."

"Still, I think you should say something. You can't just go around kissing boys you like but not moving further. Especially not if it was your first kiss."

Alyss was offended. "This wasn't my first kiss! There was Barry, in eighth grade, and Mike, two years back." But Jenny was unconvinced.

"Still though. Tell him you like him. Ask him out, for God's sake. I don't want you missing out on love, okay?"

Alyss smiled. "I won't. I just want to make sure he feels the same, okay? I've got better things to worry about than getting my heart broken."


	9. SAT 7 OCT 2018, 12:07PM

_**SAT 7 OCT 2018, 12:07PM**_

When Will entered the lunchroom, he was welcomed by the odour of freshly brewed coffee. He looked around, his eyes scanning the room. There she was. She was wearing a simple, grey, long-sleeved dress with knee boots. The colour matched her eyes beautifully, Will couldn't help but notice as he approached and their eyes locked. His smiled apologetically.

"Sorry I'm late, Halt wouldn't let me go." Alyss smiled back at him.

"It's okay. I didn't get here until a minute or so myself." That was a lie. In fact, she'd arrived at the lunchroom about ten minutes before their reservation, anxious to be late. But Will didn't know that. He gestured at an empty table next to one of the windows.  
"Shall we?" They ordered their drinks at the bar, Alyss a fresh mint tea, Will a cup of regular black coffee, and, advised by the waitress, twice the grilled cheese sandwich, then walked next to each other, manoeuvring through the filled seats. Will's hand lay on her back. Usually, Alyss hated it when men did that. But with Will it felt nice. It didn't feel as though he tried to show his superiority by moving her. It was genuine, a sweet touch. He even went so far as to pull back her chair for her, sitting down on the opposite side of the table after.

"So no honey today?" she teased. He grinned and shook his head.

"According to some people," he said, "honey ruins to good taste of coffee."

"Oh, so we're actually listening to other people know? Huh," she pouted her lips, "how long did it take me to make you listen to me? A month?" Will rolled his eyes in return.

"I was afraid you'd go spilling coffee all over me again," he said, deadpan. Alyss laughed.

"You wish."

Will's phone rang, disturbing their conversation. He looked at the screen.

"I don't have to take this. It's work, and I'm officially on lunch break."

"So what do you at the force, really?" Alyss asked, intrigued. He hesitated.

"Just, doing research. Uh, keeping up with all the news from anywhere, filter out what's important, what's real and what's not, to make sure the government stays informed of everything. That's it pretty much." Alyss eyed him curiously.

"Last month though -" she was cut off by the waitress arriving with their drinks. Will gladly took the opportunity to change the topic of their conversation.

"Enough about work. We are on lunch break. Let's talk about other stuff. What are your hobbies? Any other obsessions other than Harry Potter that I should know of?" Alyss smiled.

"Well, there is this one movie…"


	10. 12:41PM

_**12:41PM**_

He wanted to tell her. He really wanted to, just tell her everything. He wanted her to know who he was, who he truly was.

But he knew he couldn't. If he would, he would put his own life into huge danger. And hers. And that of the entire Secret Service. He would put the entire country in danger.

He couldn't do that. Not even for her.


	11. WED 24 OCT, 1:56AM

Someone had knocked on the door.

When she opened, still half asleep, she was greeted by a familiar, crooked smile.

"Will?" He grinned apologetically.

"Sorry to wake you up, but, uh, can I come in?" Alyss shook her head, forcing the sleep to leave her brain.

"Uhm, yeah, sure, come in. What are you doing here?" Will entered and followed her to the main room. The apartment wasn't big, but it was light and simplistically decorated. The main room featured a comfortable couch and chair, a coffee table, television, and shelves stacked with books and papers. To the side, next to the small kitchen, stood a table with a few wooden chairs. In the neighbouring room stood a bed, a closet, and another door led to the bathroom.

"Remember that job I had, last month, to check up on some theories? Well, I have been continuing to look into that, but I must have made some mistake because when I went home last night, they were waiting for me."

"Who's they?" Alyss's question was followed by a yawn, as she sat down in the big chair.

"The people I was investigating."

"What does that mean?"  
"It means that I have to send some military staff to 'clean' the apartment for me, so to speak. They're with too many for me to handle it alone. Coming anywhere within a kilometre radius of my own apartment is dangerous for the coming few days. Even walking through London, however grounded, they are up on me."

Even though she was tired, Alyss knew what this meant.

"So you need a place to crash?"

"Yes. I figure it's best if I just stay low for a few days and then it'll back to normal. It's just safety precautions."

Alyss sat up straight.

"Obviously you can stay here. It's not like you have any other place to go, right?"

"My next and only other option would be Jenny."

"Well, that's decided. You're staying here for the coming days."

They kept silent for a few minutes. Will looked at Alyss.

She was wearing a set of purple pajamas, her hair was messy from the sleep. She felt him staring.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just pretty." Alyss opened her mouth to reply, then shut it again.

"Thanks." Another silence.

"There are some blankets in the cupboard. I'll get them-" But Will interrupted her.

"Don't worry about it. I know you've got work in the morning. Go to bed, I've kept you up long enough. I'll find it." She really was too tired to argue.

"Alright then. Goodnight" She stood up and walked to her bedroom. Before closing the door, however, she turned around.

"How did you know where I live?" He shrugged.

"Intelligence Force, remember? We have to know everything."


	12. 7:06 AM

"I gotta be honest, Will, I've never heard of anyone of the Intelligence Force coming back beaten up or having to crash somewhere early in the morning. It doesn't make sense." Alyss, fully awake now, sat opposite Will on the couch.

Will took one of her hands and looked her deep in the eye.  
"I know it doesn't, and believe me, I wish that I could tell you more. But I can't. So I have to ask you to trust me. I know it's a lot to ask, like you said yourself the other day, we haven't known each other for that long. The only thing that I can is that you're right. It's not typical Intelligence Force. I'm not some nerd keeping up with news stories to keep the government informed. My work, it goes a lot deeper."

"How deep?"

Unintentionally they had moved closer, so close that they could feel each other's breathing on their skin. Their eyes were locked.

Suddenly Alyss unlocked her gaze and rose from the couch, grabbing her bag in the process.

"Alright, so I gotta go. I know this sounds messed up, but I spent years trying to figure out the best way to keep my stuff organised, so…"  
"Gotcha. Not going to go looking through your stuff. And if I will then I'll just make I leave everything where I found it," Will joked. Alyss smiled and gestured at the windows.

"Should I keep the curtains closed?"  
"Oh, no, do open them. Everything should look normal, we don't want to raise suspicion. I should just stay out of sight of anyone on the streets. Unless," he hesitated. "Unless what?" "Unless you regularly have guys over at night…" His voice trailed off.

"Is that what you really think of me?" she asked sharply. Will shook his head quickly.

"Definitely not! It's just, if it were the case then it'd make stuff less complicated, is all."

"Okay." Alyss turned around and walked to the door.

"Alyss?"

"Yes?" She turned back to face him.

"Thank you for letting me stay here. It requires a lot trust towards someone you barely know and I just want know that I really appreciate it." She smiled softly again.

"Don't worry about it."


	13. SUN 28 OCT, 8:13AM

"Alright, you're dismissed." Halt turned his gaze back to the computer and typed something. When he didn't hear Will leave, however, he turned his gaze back to the young man standing in front of his desk.

"Anything else?" Will nodded. His arms were folded in front of his body, something Halt recognised as his standard pose of determination.

"There's someone I want to tell."

Halt sighed. Although this was the first time his apprentice had explicitly expressed his wish to tell someone, the subject had crossed their conversations many times before.

"Will, we talked about this. Whoever this someone is, you're not gonna tell them."

"Why not?" Will queried rebelliously.

"Because the more people know about you, about the Secret Services, the harder it gets for all of us to work secretly and with discretion." But whereas many times before, this had been a sufficient answer for Will, today it wasn't.  
"I don't have to tell them everything. I don't tell Horace every single detail either. But it would definitely be nice not having to watch every syllable that leaves my mouth." The bearded Agent knew that he was not going to be let off lightly. He sighed again.

"What do you want to tell them?"

"Who I am, what work I do - I want to tell her-"

"Oh, so it's a she now?"

"Yeah, but-"

"I should have seen this coming. You're almost 20, I should have expected that one of these days you'd come running to me about telling some girl."  
"It's not like that! I have known her for almost two months -"

"Two whole months? Why, such a lifetime!"

"Halt, stop," Will was getting seriously fed up with his mentor's sarcastic attitude towards this matter, "I should hope that after more than five years you would trust me enough to know that this doesn't come out of nowhere."

Halt was unconvinced. But he respected the boy enough to listen to him. He now closed the laptop in front him and turned fully to the younger man standing there, following his example and folding his hands in front of him.

"Alright, who is she?"

"Her name's Alyss and she's from the Diplomatic Services. She works under Pauline and gets her coffee every day at Jenny's, who she has grown up with."

"Why can't you tell her about your hobbies or your childhood or -"

"What should I say? My hobbies are following people, stalking them, until I can find out what they're hiding for the government? Oh wait, I'm not allowed to tell her that. So my childhood, then, which consisted mainly out of loneliness and bullying, but then I was suddenly apprenticed to the Intelligence Force and became best friends with my bully because we saved each other's lives - wait, I'm not allowed to tell her that either.

"And I know we created this whole other identity thing for me, but I don't want to continue lying to people I like and people I care about. Be reasonable, Halt, it's not like I'll go spilling everything about me to anyone I meet. I can still be careful. Telling one person some things won't discredit our entire existence."

"How can you be so sure we can trust her and that it won't, in fact, discredit our entire existence?"

"Where do you think I crashed the last couple of days?" This last piece of information did the trick. Will had just finished reporting about his mission, not leaving out that he was forced to crash at someone else's place for the last four days. However, Halt had simply assumed that he had gone to Horace. Apparently, that wasn't so. Realising the meaning of Will being able to crash at Alyss's with her full consent and full knowledge that she was to be kept in the dark, Halt decided that he had been wrong. Not willing to admit that, he proposed a solution as well as he could.

"I'll think about it and bring the matter to Pauline and Crowley. But until then, you will not say a word about anything to her, understood?" Will nodded, thankful that his request would at least be considered.

"Yes, Halt, thank you."


	14. FANBOOKLET JOHN FLANAGAN

p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Dear Ranger's Apprentice fans! /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"With John Flanagan joining us Dutchies at the Ranger's Apprentice Day in the Netherlands on June 8th, I have decided to put together a new fanbooklet (just like I did two years ago)! /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emWhat is the fanbooklet/em? The fanbooklet is a booklet, put together by me, that includes anything and everything that Ranger's Apprentice fans from all over the world would like to tell, ask or show John Flanagan. This can be cosplay, edit, fanart, headcanon, question, a personal story, or simply telling him why you like the books, which one's your favourite, who's your favourite character, what do they mean to you - anything and everything at all! /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emHow can you contribute/em? Send an email to strongfanbooklet2019 /strong with whatever you want to be included. Don't forget to include your strongname/strong, strongage/strong and strongcountry/strong (although these are optional, I would like to show John how many fans from many ages and many different countries like his books). That's it! The deadline is strongJune 1st/strong - after that, I have to start putting it together and at that point I can't guarantee that there will still be space. I/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"f you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me! I look forward to seeing your contributions! Can we surpass 2017's record of 116 contributions?! /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Love, Rose/p 


	15. THU 15 NOV, 7:40AM

_**THU 15 NOV, 7:40AM**_

It was noisy, in the coffeeshop, and yet the seconds passing on the big clock behind the counter was all Will could hear. He stood leaning against the counter, three large cups of coffee - he had an eight o'clock meeting with his two supervisors - stacked on top of each other. A fourth cup was slid towards him, and he thankfully turned to take it. Stacking it on top of the others, he glanced over to Jenny.

"Any idea where she is?"

The pretty barista shook her head, handing over two new cups of coffee to the customers standing in line behind him.

"No idea. She's barely this late. Has she texted you back yet?"

Using his chin to hold the four stacked cups in place, Will got out his phone and unlocked it. "Nothing," he sighed.

Jenny shrugged. "Maybe her neighbours had another party and she overslept again?" she suggested, but Will bit his lip in doubt. He shook his head.  
"She would've let me know. No, something must have happened." He glanced at the clock. Ten more minutes until the meeting had been scheduled. Fifteen until it would actually begin. Quickly calculating the shortest routes - luckily, Alyss' apartment wasn't far from his work or the coffeeshop - he decided that it was doable. If he hurried.


	16. 7:55AM

_**7:55AM**_

Raising his hand to knock, something told him not to. Maybe it was something he heard, maybe it was instinct. But something wasn't right.

Will lowered his fist. It was awfully silent inside the apartment. And he had seen the curtains still lowered when he'd arrived outside the building. And so she was probably still asleep.

From the corner of his eye he could see the yellow chrysanthemums. They were the same as those in Alyss' window frame.

He was about to sit down and wait, and perhaps call her, when he remembered that Alyss never kept her plants in the window frame when she lowered the curtains. It gave them too "little air to breathe". That meant someone else had lowered the curtains for her and he immediately realised the meaning behind it.

In an impulse, he slammed himself against the door. Years of training had taught him the best techniques, the weakest spots, and he was not in the slightest surprised when the door gave in and slammed open, throwing whoever had been leaning against it against the wall. Will had no time to watch because someone came running at him.

Suddenly his fist was slamming into his attacker's face while he sunk into his stomach. Blood pooled in his mouth as he gagged. Three of the coffee cups flew through the room. They stumbled apart for a brief second to catch their breaths.

Will's brain calculated quickly. One man was unconscious from the door hitting against him. A second was spitting out blood opposite of him. But captors rarely came in couples.

His attacker dove back at him. Will dodged him first and came up with his own; for a brief instant, the blue eyes widened before he managed to tilt his head back and slam it into Will's. Stars burst in his vision but he shook it off, blinding throwing a sloppy kick. For once, his small height came to his advantage when Will's foot met the other man's crotch.

Before he could deliver the final blow, however, a strong arm wrapped itself around his neck. Will sucked in a breath sharply, before throwing his last cup of coffee over his shoulder, into his face, then turning away and slamming his elbow up his attacker's face, then into his stomach, before hitting his temple - and then the man went down.

Will was thrown against the table that was standing amidst the chaos and he could feel the veins under his skin bursting open before slamming into the ground. He grunted and tried to push himself up when the last attacker came charging at him, slipped over the spilled coffee, and fell down on top of him. Quickly, Will turned around, ending on top of his attacker and hit the sides of his head rapidly - left, right, left, until his eyes rolled up.

Pulling himself up on the table, Will stood for a minute, doubled over, coughing, wiping away the blood from his forehead.

A fainted, soft sound came to his attention.

"Will?"


	17. 8:02AM

_**8:02AM**_

Alyss had been locked up in her bedroom and had flown into his arms when he released her. Her face turned pale when she noticed the blood on his face and arms.

"What happened? Who are these men?"

Both of them sunk onto the couch, Will more carefully as to not smear any blood on the soft fabric.

Alyss shook her head. "I don't know. They came barging in here, sometime last night, demanding that give up some young man who had stolen some of their documents. When they realised you weren't here-"

"How-"

She smiled weakly. "I'm not stupid, Will. I meet you, beaten up half the time, you come crashing when you have no place else to go, and then a few weeks later What I didn't know, however, was why they had to keep me captive." As she described the fear she went through these last hours, tears started welling up. But they were not of mere fear, Will realised. They were also out of frustration. Impulsively, he decided something and he took both her hands in his. Their eyes met.

"Alyss? There's something you need to know." He sighed, but she didn't say anything.

"I don't actually work at the Intelligence Force. Well, I do, officially, but not technically. There's this department within the IF that's called the 'Secret Services'. Its work goes a lot deeper and it involves a lot more field work. Think of it as the FBI. Except the Services really no one knows off. Like, not even the FBI knows."

"Is that… is that why you keep showing up all bruised?" Will nodded.

Alyss frowned. "But what do I have to do with all of this?"

Will squeezed her hands. "They must have followed me when I came to you. They thought that by keeping you captive, they could lurk me here and ambush me. It only worked partially."

"So basically, by knowing you, I'm somewhat in danger?"  
"Basically, yes. Your life is not on the line every day, but might something go wrong, every person that knows of the Secret Services is in danger."  
"So what can I do to protect myself?"

He hesitated. "I really do think it better if you talk to Ms. Pauline about this situation."

"But -"

"Once you have, I promise that I'll tell you anything you might still want to know. I promise, really, but I can't tell you more now. Not now. God, I'm going to get into so much trouble for this already."

"Why would you get into trouble for this? You saved me."

Will laid a hand on her cheek and smiled softly.  
"If anyone asks me, I'll express my full rights about telling you. And Halt and Crowley… they'll get it. They will. But there's very few people that know about the existence of the Secret Services and with every person that knows our work becomes more dangerous. It's more people that we have to look out for, more weak links. Now," he shushed her when she opened her mouth, refusing to let her talk, "I'm not saying that you're a weak link. But what would have happened if you had had information and these guys would have come, huh?" It was silent for a few minutes and their minds went to explore all the different possible outcomes. At last, Will sighed.

"My work is dangerous, Alyss. Really, really dangerous. Pulling you in like this… I wish I didn't have to. You really do have to talk to Ms. Pauline about this and I have to answer to my supervisors. You have no idea about the depth of the Services."


	18. 8:27AM

_**8:27AM**_

"You're late." Crowley stood with his back to the door that Will had just entered through.

"I had good reason to," Will replied, frustration evident in his voice.

"Then please do explain to us why you're exactly 27 minutes late to a meeting that - what happened?"

His supervisor had been sitting with his back towards the door when Will entered, turning around when he did. He now stood up and walked towards his agent, examining him. The young man stood still, knowing he'd looked worse, but better, too. His entire upper arm was bruised, blue and swollen. His jaw had a long cut over it, and the skin above his eye open and raw. His knuckles had dried up blood on them.

"I went to Alyss's this morning, to pick her up. However, I couldn't do that because she was being held captive, in her own apartment, by three dudes I have never seen before. We got into a fight, and then… well, this." He gestured vaguely at himself.

Crowley opened his mouth to say something, and shut it again. When he finally did talk, he asked, "And then?"  
Will shrugged. "And then I told her."

"What?!"

Will shrugged again, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with a mixture of anger and frustration.

"What could I? She got held captive because I crashed at her place one time. She isn't save. And she deserves know that."

The red haired looked at his old time friend. "Halt? What do you say?"

The grey bearded Agent shrugged. "I mean, he's got a point."

Crowley sighed. "I know he does. I know he does. Oh, you're right. I'm just thinking about all the paperwork this is going to require."

"It's why you're the Commander," Halt replied, deadpan. When he saw that Crowley was hesitant to leave the room, he said: "Oh go on then. Clean up the mess outside. I'll clean up the mess in this room."


	19. 8:42AM

_**8:42AM**_

"Alyss? Are you okay?"

Alyss looked up from where she was sitting, in her mentor's office, half curled up and her head tiredly leaning on her hand. Now, she stood up and moved towards the woman that just entered, and accepted her embrace.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." When Pauline let her go and examined her, she smiled weakly.

"Really, I am. Just tired. They didn't do anything to me, they just kept me there until Will would show up. It's fine, really." She sat down simultaneously, Alyss back in her comfortable chair and Pauline across from her, behind her desk. Formally, Pauline clasped her hands together and leaned forward.

"What happened?"

Alyss gestured something. "It doesn't matter. I'm sure you've been informed of the basics, including the fact that Will told me about the Secret Services. He wouldn't tell me more. He said to go to you. Pauline, what do you have to do with all of this?"  
The woman with the blond-and-grey hair hesitated, but not for long.

"Like the Intelligence Force has the Secret Services, our Diplomatic Services have the Diplomatic Espionage Department. They work together more closely, although the Secret Agents tend to do a little more physical fieldwork than us Diplomatic Spies."

"'Us'? You're one of them? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

This time it was Pauline who vaguely gestured something.

"The truth is, I never considered it. It is such a secretive organisation, and usually the DED candidates are selected through the Secret Services. I barely even thought of considering you until Halt told me Will wanted to tell you everything."

Trained as she was, Alyss noticed the double meaning behind her mentor's words and suddenly sat up straight.

"So can I apply?"

Pauline smiled. "There's no stopping you even if I wanted to, is there?"


	20. 8::42AM

_**8:42AM**_

"Where's Crowley?"

"Apart from sending forces to pick up the men in Alyss's apartment, talking to people. Alyss has to be added to the database, especially now that she's gotten herself an application for the DED." Will grinned approvingly.

"Despite the humour that you seem to find in it, there's actually very little to laugh about, Will," Halt reprimanded. "You have no idea the strings Crowley has to pull."

But his apprentice turned towards him, dodging the cleansing.

"Don't I? Who was it, that had to add Horace to the database? Who was it, that almost got his head smashed when he went to get information for Crowley? Who was it, that couldn't go home for weeks because his apartment was being stalked? I'm a trainee, Halt, not an idiot."

"I know you're not, but - come sit down, I need to clean this wound." Will did as he was told, and bit his lip as the fluid drained the skin around the wound.

"Listen, Will, it's not you that is the problem. It's humanity. Society. Whichever you feel like blaming. Point is, we can't trust people. Every time we do, it all goes downhill. We can't afford that, and thus we must bring sacrifices."

"You know how hard it is to go around, not really talking to people, not really having friends? Every time I find someone who's nice I have to stay grim, keep my distance, not allow myself to get acquaintanced. Apart from Horace, I don't have any friends. The only reason he knows is because we grew up together and he recognised me when you and Rodney got together."

Halt took the ice from his trainee's arm and applied a salve to it.

"I know it can be hard, Will, but you have to remember that telling anyone puts any of us in danger."

But Will scoffed bitterly. "What about the danger I put myself in?"

Halt dabbed the graze one last time, threw the cotton into a bin and closed the first aid kit. The grey-bearded man laid a firm hand on the younger man's shoulder, forcing him to look up and meet his eyes.

"I've said it before, Will, and I mean it: if you want out, no one's stopping you. No one's blaming you. You keep forgetting, Will, you're not the only one that got sucked into this life. There's more of us with the weight of the world on our shoulders.

"And if it makes you feel any better, I had already convinced Crowley and Pauline to let in Alyss into the database. Pauline has previously expressed her potential as DED candidate and honestly, we could use another bright mind."  
"Really?"

Halt nodded. "I trust you, Will. I really do. I know that if you come to me about wanting to tell someone, it's not at random. But you have to start accepting that the Secret Services cannot entertain impulsiveness. If you can, accept that, you'll feel some of the weight lifting off."

The young man thought about it for a minute or so, then sighed. But he looked up to meet his mentor's eyes once again.

"Thanks, Halt. Thanks for everything."


	21. 9:00AM

_**9:00AM**_

It was pure coincidence that when he left the conference room, Alyss was leaning against the wall opposite of the hallway. She looked up from her phone when she heard him. She'd freshened herself up a bit, he noticed. Her hair was pulled up in a neat ponytail and she'd changed into skinny jeans and a sweatshirt.

Will nodded towards the glasses and lightning bolt drawn on it and raised a questioning eyebrow.

She smiled and shrugged.

Neither of them seemed to know the right words, until Will grinned at her and laid an arm around her shoulders.

"Let's get some coffee."


	22. SAT 17 NOV, 6:23PM

_**SAT 17 NOV, 6:23PM**_

It was noisy in the little diner. Will looked around at the busy tables. An old couple eating side by side, one glass of wine each, studiously bent over their meals. A group of young women in their thirties collapsing with helpless giggles as a stern woman dining alone nearby looked on and frowned. Businessmen in their grey suits. But it didn't bother him.

Together they maneuvered to their table.

For the occasion, Will was wearing a white blouse tucked in formal jeans. Alyss was wearing a light blue dress, fitting but still comfortable.

They sat opposite of each other and as the night progressed, the conversation slowly turned more serious. Until they could avoid the topic no longer.

"Will?"

He looked up, a questioning look on his face as he realised the sudden seriousness in her voice.

"I was wondering… whatever happened with the guys that held me captive?"

The wondering changed into understanding, and Will nodded.

Alyss patiently waited until he'd chewed and swallowed, then looked at him curiously.

"Alright, so Crowley had the police force pick them up thrown in jail for a few hours," he started, "Then Halt got some alone time with them… yesterday, to find out their motives and whatnots and what came out of that was actually not that interesting. Turns out they were hired by someone else, of whom I, uh, stole some documents a couple of weeks ago. They expected to be able to take me by surprise and then take the documents back by force. Nothing personal." He grinned and Alyss was surprised to feel relieved.

"So there's no more threat from them? What about their boss?" But Will shook his head.

"Nothing new on the horizon. You'll be set up with a new security system and be back to full safety in no-time. Which reminds me…" He eyed her curiously.

"What about that DED application?"

A wide smile broke out on Alyss's face. "I just received the confirmation that I've been accepted to start the training coming January!"

Will's grin widened and he raised his glass to clink it to hers. "I knew it! Congratulations! Who knows, maybe we'll be send on a mission together some time!"

She blushed and found herself wishing for that mission to be sooner, rather than later.


End file.
